Runaways
by MaddieKristine
Summary: The year is 2176 and Seven kids are on the run. This is not exactly 'Maximum Ride' based, but it has the same Ideas. Please Read and Review.You do not have to read ALL the maximum ride books before this. Disclaimer: I dont own Maximum Ride. : Enjoy!
1. Prolouge

(Note: This is sort of a branch off James Patterson's _Maximum Ride_) Prolouge

_**This sun feels awesome**_** I thought. We were probably three, maybe four miles up in the air. For once, the sun over the tall, cold Rocky Mountains was showing its face. It warmed our tee shirt covered backs to just the right temperature. **_**This is so much better than the Institute for Genetics. Stupid Scientists. **_**I thought. **

_** Agreed. **_**Said my best and closest friend, Mason. A chorus of 'heck yeahs' and 'yeps' echoed in my mind. Yea, I said my mind. Our minds are all connected. **

** Okay, so I haven't really told our story before, so I'm just going to talk and you can try and keep up. So here is the deal: We are a bunch of mutant genetic freaks, ranging from ages four to fifteen. **

** My name is Justeen Holly. I am 15 years old, and I support seven other kids and myself. Their names are Dessi Spear, Ange Cellar, Gabe Cellar (twin of Ange), Francine Douglass, Grettah Underwood, Mason Vern, and Theris Floers. They are great, and very smart, for seven kids who have never had an education. **

** Anyways, I hope you survive reading this. Yep, by picking ****this**** series, you have made yourself known to the Government. But who knows. Maybe you can join us some day. **

**Well, I gave you the information. **

**Decide if you should put this down or not.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

** So. Were did I leave off? Oh yeah, flying in the sun. Right.**

** " I'm hungry," Grettah complained. "When can we make camp?" The others looked at me, the same question reflection in their eyes. **

** "Uhm, how about over there. There is a nice forest. We can make a fire too." I replied, starting to bank toward the left. The flock followed. **

** When we landed, Mason and Theris went to work building a fire. I opened my bag, the one that is brown, and sort of falling apart. I grabbed a bag of Lotz 'o Butter Popped Corn and a little pan. Ange, my little helper, grabbed a bag of grapes.**

** Things like grapes, oranges, and any other type of fruit really were a rarity. We didn't really get to drop into a supermarket every week. No, even that was too dangerous. The RARs are always watching. That is the gang slang for Really Annoying Robots. They are really called the Friends. As if. The Government decided that, since we got away (more on escape later.) they would make something to destroy/capture/all of the above.**

** But anyway, we got dinner ready, and the boys set up camp. So here is deal with the flock/group. **

…

**My name (as you now know) is Justeen. I have the wings of a golden eagle. Yes, you read right. I said WINGS. The scientists thought it was a genetic break through, but I think it was evil. Who breeds kids with wings? I'm not the only one either. All eight kids have wings of some sort. I can also breathe underwater and speak to all forms of marine life. I also have some kind of feline bred into me, 'cuz I can run up to 90 mph. I have goldish-brown hair, and dark green eyes. Think, Christmas Tree (without the lights and stuff) green.**

** My best friend, and second in command is Mason Vern. He and Theris are always playing pranks and building things. Mase is an amazing person. If I was the mother (which I am not, thank god), he would be the dad. He is very smart, and can think on his feet. Mase has some sort of barn owl's wings. The are about 14- 15 ft. across. They are gray on the primary feathers, and mostly brown on the secondary feathers. He has dark brown hair that hangs by his ears, and large hazel eyes.**

** My other best friend is Francine. She got some panther DNA, so, as you can imagine, she can see and run very well. Francine is from Jamaican Dissent, so she has coffee colored skin and very thick black/brown hair. Her eyes are so dark, they are almost black. Fran has the wings of a falcon; they are almost the same color of her skin, only a bit lighter. Fran is very aloof, and very quiet.**

** Ah, Grettah. What a sweetie. She, if any of us did, hit the jackpot on the whole 'genetic-mutant-freak' thing. Grettah can actually morph her figure. I'm talkin' she can be anything from a sparrow to an echidna, whatever that is. And get this: she is only four years old. She really is a cutie, though. She has short strawberry blonde hair and light, light brown eyes. She is very pale, and she looks like a little porcelain doll. She is very creative and very fun. She has another name, the name on her birth certificate is really Hannah Grace. (but she hates it, so don't tell her I told you.)**

** Next, we move to Dessi. If anyone is the most adventurous, it is Miss Dessi Spear. Dessi is our little huntress. She has a bow and arrow made out of maple and bone, a present for her 11****th**** birthday. Dessi is twelve. She is strong, smart, and very stealthy. She seems to melt into the trees if you don't watch her carefully. She probably came from some island in the Pacific, most likely the Philippines or Hawaii. She has straight black hair and tan shin. Her facial features seemed almost flat, except for her high cheekbones. Her wings are black and dark as night. Her favorite color is purple, and, despite her attitude, is a total fashion diva.**

** Next, we have our twins, the dynamic duo, Ange and Gabe Cellar. They look almost identical (well, except for the fact that Gabe is a guy…). Identical black hair, identical eyes, even identical skin tones. Ange is a sweet little girl, but she is very bossy. They both have short, curly black hair ( I mean truly black. Their hair shines purple.) and deep blue eyes. They have naturally tan skin. Gabe is a master of engineering and problem solving. The boy could be locked in a padded cell with nothing but a few grapes and a hair band, and still get out. **

** Lastly, we come to Theris. Theris Floers can communicate with animals of all kinds. Fish, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles; he can do it all. He also influence people's thoughts (which is kinda creepy, because you don't know when he is doing it). He is nine, and he is sort of ditsy. He has curly dark red hair and large blue eyes. His wings are the most special, if you ask me. He has the wings of a dragon like creature, called a Gretamack. They resemble a bat's wings; vein covered and thin. But, unlike the Gretamack, his wings have thin, wispy feathers. His wings are dark mahogany, almost the color of his hair. So there you go. The descriptions of my guys.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After dinner, we set up camp. 'Camp' was usually a tall, branched out tree, or even an abandoned eagle nest. Tonight, though, Mase and Theris took an newly fallen tree and covered it with palm leaves. They tied the leaves together with some of our precious twine. The tallest part was big enough to squat under, and it made an excellent tent.

** Right before the little ones fell into sleep, we did out ritual. Basically, we go around and say one thing that made us happy or a complement about another flock member (this started after Grettah and Gabe got into an argument, and refused to speak to each other for weeks). **

** "I liked the fruit Ange got," said little Grettah, her strawberry blonde curls glowing in the fire. Almost immediately, she stuck her thumb into her mouth and closed her eyes. **

** " I like that Theris and Mason made us this tent," said Ange, already half asleep on Mason. By the time Gabe opened his mouth, she was already asleep.**

** " I loved how nice the warm wind felt today," said Gabe." It was warm and nice." I would have to help him think of new adjectives soon. He leaned against the trunk of the tree and began to snore.**

** " I…uh… liked the way Fran smelled?" Theris said. Francine laughed and punched him in the arm. He always had trouble coming up with things to say. He giggled and snuggled between Ange and Grettah. In seconds, his mouth opened slightly.**

** " I'm glad we finally get some sleep," Francine said, already curling up into a ball, and covering up with a worn blanket. She, too, started to relax, and soon, Mase and I were the only ones awake.**

** "Your hair looks nice today," Mason said, laughing and ruffling my golden hair. I laughed and hit him on the arm. My hair never looked nice. It was always blown from the wind, or tangled with mud or blood. **

** "Right back atcha," I said gesturing toward his shaggy mane. His hair was blown straight back, and it was tangled at the top. "I guess we all need a bath. Good thing I saw a spring near the mountains," I said. **

**Mason and I went through the routine of taking the many old blankets out of people's packs and placing them on the kids. We had some from just about everywhere. One from Montana had embroidered horses running. One from Kansas had a picture of Golden Wheat. Another, from San Diego, had pictures of zoo animals. The orange one from Florida had waves in blue and white. **

**After everyone else was wrapped up, we settled onto the hard ground. I had a blanket from Georgia on me, and I wrapped part of it around a sleeping Gabe. **

**Mason and I slept back to back, so even in sleep we had each other there. **


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After a good night's rest, Dessi and I went to attempt to find some meat. We swooped high over the trees, looking for a rabbit, squirrel, or deer, if we were lucky. Even though I had known Dessi her entire life, it still amazed me that she spotted the tiniest rabbit track from 2000 feet.

We slowed our decent, trying to keep down wind from the animal. We were by the stream I had spotted the previous day, a little thing that a normal human could probably jump, but it was more than 4 feet in depth. We came to rest silently in the soft bedding of pine straw.

_Holy feathers!_ Dessi said. It was easy to sense the excitement in her voice. Well, her voice in my head… you get what I'm trying to say.

_I see three of them!_ She said, her maple bow raised. She had her quiver strap on her elbow, and her smile was a strange mix of excitement and ferocity. She let the first arrow fly.

It was easy to see why she did the hunting in the family. In a matter of seconds, she killed all three of the rabbits. Her movements were swift and deadly; the last rabbit didn't even get a chance to blink (do rabbits blink?) after the first one was killed.

We were landing back at camp in no less than ten minutes. We were greeted with smiles and shouts of delight. Like fruit, meat wasn't exactly common.

We smoked the rabbit and dried the skins over the fire. Once the logs had died down, we ate and got ready to leave.

Everyone has a part in pickup. Grettah gets blankets, Dessi and Ange clean the fire and food messes up. Gabe, Mason and Theris fix the sleeping quarters, so it looks untouched. Francine and I get packs on people's backs and pack anything else.

__**"Okay, so we are trying to get to the beach," I said, pulling out a old map. "If we are here, which way do we have to go?"**

** "East," Dessi said. Her voice was like chiming bells. "I just can feel its east."**

** "Unless you just looked at the compass," Francine countered.**

**I ignored their bickering, which lasted all of five minutes.**

** "Uhm, sorry to interrupt, but RARs at four o'clock."**

**Well, that got everyone's attention.**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Eight pairs of eyes shot looks at both Me, Mason, and the sky.

** "You know the drill," I said. That was all it took to kick everyone into battle mode. **

**Dessi pulled her bow from around her shoulder. Ange and Gabe stood close together, but with Gabe slightly in front. They had no emotion on their little faces. **

**Francine had a fierce look on her face. She truly looked like her Panther DNA was taking control. **

**Theris was facing the woods. I heard him silently calling birds, deer, and even bears to stand-by. **

** I looked at Mason last. His hazel eyes met my green ones, and he smiled a devious, lets-kick-some-robot-butt smile.**

…

They landed in a 'v' formation not 50 yards from us. They outnumbered us by about four. No big deal. We've faced more before.

** I sent out the silent signal, and seven pairs of wings opened in unison with mine. I felt so proud. The robot army hesitated for only a millisecond, and then regained composure. **

"**Boo," I whispered. **

**The fight was a blur. There were punches thrown, and bruises were made, but we succeeded to demolish all but one of the group. The remainder one we chased far into the woods. **

"**All right," I said," check in."**

** "Were fine," Gabe said, sporting a black eye and a nasty looking split lip. Ange smiled and then grimaced as she pulled her index finger back into place. She had bruise the size of a softball on her leg.**

** "Theris and I are okay," Dessi said. Her arm was bent into an angle, and Theris, who looked more or less fine, was wrapping it in a torn piece of fabric. Francine would help her set it later.**

** Francine.**

** " Hey now, don't get all worried, I'm fine," she said, wrapping her ankle in a cloth on a near-by log. Her latte colored face had a split running across her left cheekbone. **

** So we were all okay, but I couldn't shake this bad feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. Huh. **


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

After our little encounter, we took to the skies, eager to get away from the forest. Flying high above the clouds reminded me of the first day we were free…

The day we escaped was like our independence day. I wish I could say no one got hurt, but that would be a huge lie.

** We grew up in crates. Yep, crates that were about the size of a poodle. Can you imagine? **

** Anyway, one day, the 'scientists' decided to let us 'play' with some newly made Friends. Big mistake.**

** You see, these 'scientists' kidnapped us from the places we were born. They then messed with our DNA and grafted a little bit of random animals onto our chromosomes. We don't know our parents. We don't know our homes. It's pretty sad actually. **

** Sorry, I got sidetracked. So, anyway, they let us out into this big yard. The land was hilly and untrimmed, perfect for the scientist's idea of fun. Around the same time, the Friends were released from cages similar to ours. **

** Let me tell you, Friends are just down right ugly. Their faces are mutilated into unrecognizable blobs. Their eyes are usually all black, with no pupil. Their arms are long and hairy, as are their feet and legs. In a way, they got it worse than we did. **

** I won't go into detail, because, believe me, you don't want me to. But in short, a ton of scientists were killed, and Friends too. We ended up with two broken femurs and four broken arms. Our faces were scratched up and colored blue and purple, but we managed to leap off a large hill into freedom. **

** Well now they want to catch us, auction us, or kill us, but they are probably attracted to the latter. **

** Soon, the smell of salty water snapped me from my revive. We were still probably two states away from California, but our enhanced senses allowed all of us to smell and see way farther than the average person. **

** I looked at my flock. They sensed my stares and smiled at me. **

** Gosh, I love them so dang much. Which is the only reason I agreed to this stupid trip. I would be perfectly fine with hiding out in some dark cave if it meant they were all safe. **

**But no, everyone vote against leader Justeen.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six We landed on a beautiful crescent shaped cove, surrounded by trees. The water was, well, kind of bluish brown, to tell the truth. The sand was pure white, the color of processed sugar. Scattered around the beach were seashells, ranging in size from the size of an "o" on a keyboard to the size of my fist. The littler kids squeaked with delight and ran about, some splashing in the water, some picking up seashells. _Crap _I said to Mason, _they forgot their swimsuits. _ "Lighten up," he answered aloud, " They can change clothes. It's not the end of the world."

**With that, he ran towards Ange, who was looking at Grettah turning to a bottlenose dolphin. Just before he hit the water, Grettah squeaked and Ange turned around, laughing. I smiled as she, still laughing, jumped away just in time for Mase to hit the water with a splash. **

** You may be wondering why Ange simply didn't… uh, hear him thinking, so to speak. That is one of the many weird things about us. We can hear each other's thoughts, yes, but only if we want the person to hear them. Hang out with us much longer, and you'll get used to this stuff.**

** I looked back at the water. Now, Theris and Gabe had joined the beach party. They were laughing and throwing sand at each other's faces. **

** Dessi was lying on her back, her eyes closed. She smiled as Mason approached her, splashing like a madman. **

** "Hey, Justeen, come look at this," Francine yelled. I turned and walked to where she was stooped over, 100 feet from where I was standing before. **

** "What is it?" I asked, gesturing to a mass of wire. **

** "That's not what I'm talking about," she said, sounding exasperated," LOOK!"**

** I did what she said, and this time I saw what she was talking about. **

**She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, grabbed the hunk of wire, and began **_**glow.**_

** "Uhm, what exactly was that?" Dessi said, making me jump.**

** " I…I…think Francine has a new skill?" I said it like a question. I had whispered it, yet Mason, Theris, Gabe, and Ange looked up and rushed over. **

"**What did we miss?" Grettah said, coming from the pile of towels we had stacked near a tree. Her hair was windblown and caked with sand.**

"**She can use energy from old electricity," Gabe said, sounding awed. **

**I couldn't speak. We were supposed to have stopped mutating. We… we…couldn't… **

**Crap. **

**I would bet this is the part of a bad movie where the bad guy would say**_**," This is just the beginning! Mwahahaha!"**_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Okay, so lets recap a lil' bit.

** We slept in an, apparently being watched, forest. Then, a hole bunch of RARs showed up and killed out moods (see why we call them RARs?). Then, we flew to the beach and played around a bit. Oh yeah, and now the theory is that we can start mutating on our own. **

**Fabulous. My day was going great.**

…

** "Sorry guys, but this place is starting to give me the creeps. We have to move on tomorrow, at the latest," I told my flock. I had called them to an emergency meeting around a small campfire in a cave. I don't think the urgency in my voice was getting through to them. Grettah, Gabe, and Ange had gotten bad sunburns and were practically asleep. Francine, Theris and Dessi had been playing with Francine's new…skill. They were all leaning against the wall, with bored faces. I looked at Mason. He was always my rock. My second-guess. **

** "I think they need to sleep, J." **

** Well there goes my plan. **

** "Fine. You guys want to stay here and be captured, count me out."**

**And with that, I flew the short distance to the top of the cave. I took a running start and jumped.**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Flying is amazing. Just ask any random bird kid you see on the street. In seconds, my golden- brown wings unfurled themselves. I push down, hard and coasted into an air pocket. I flew on instinct for a while, thinking.

_You are being irrational. _The thought that wasn't my own came to me.

Mason.

I decided to stop for him, in a big palm. He landed softly beside me.

"They're just kids, Justeen. They need to be…stable…somehow," He reminded me gently.

"I know. They just… ugh, I don't know. They don't _think. _They don't move on instinct. They move on their own desires."

"And that is because they are… wait for it… kids. They don't think, yes. But, Ange, Gabe, Theris, Francine, Dessi… you wouldn't leave them. You couldn't. Ever." For some reason, that made me smile.

"Okay, you're right," was all I said. I reached down and grabbed his hand. "Lets get back before someone starts a riot."

And we flew off to find our family.

Okay people! Please comment on my progress! Give me new ideas! Should Justeen and Mason be just friends or BF and GF, like in Max Ride?

What should I do with the other kids? Should Fran turn on the group?

Thanks!


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Sergeant Ida Howard reporting for duty, sir," the thirty-six year old said, entering the President's office. She had hair the color of honey comb and pale gray eyes.

** "Sergeant. I pulled your record. Very impressive. But I have a harder mission," the President said, his brown eyes were hard, showing no emotion. "Please have a seat."**

** "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. What is your mission?" **

** The President nodded to a young guard standing by the door. He pushed a button on the wall, causing a white screen to slide from the ceiling. A picture of the runaways appeared on the screen, captured when they were cornered two years ago. **

** "These are the targets. Justeen Holly is the oldest girl and leader. She is our main priority. Followed by Mason Vern, Francine Douglass, Dessi Spear, Theris Floers, Gabe Cellar and Ange Cellar. They are very smart, very hard to trick. We will have to outsmart them. The group was last seen at 22:15 on a remote beach in southern California. We have Friends surrounding the beach. What is your plan?" The President finished.**

** Ida Howard launched into her plan to kill the Runaways.**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

** "Finally. I could have sworn you went to Vegas and eloped. What took you so long?" Dessi asked. "Never mind. Look, we have a… situation. Maybe a trap…I don't know. Come here."**

** Mason and I looked at her quizzically. **

** She sighed and turned on her heel, obviously trying to get us to follow her. **

** We followed Dessi far into the cave, to a point where the darkness blinded even our enhanced senses. **

** "Just a bit farther. Feel where the floor slopes? Just after that," she coached us. **

** All of the sudden, a light appeared nearly next to me and a gasped and jumped. So much for being fearless leader Justeen.**

** "Sush. Don't scare her. We don't know anything about her."**

_**About who?**_** I asked the voice, who I could identify as Theris.**

_**All we got is her name. Aspen Keller. Wouldn't tell us anything else. Gabe and Ange have her in a corner around the bend right now. Come on! **_**He said, pulling me by the hand. **

** We entered a small room, the size of four large dog crates stacked on top of each other, and about two across (seriously, after you were basically raised in a dog crate, you cant help but compare). In the dim light created by small holes punched through the ceiling, I saw Little Ange and Gabe guarding a huddled figure in a corner. **

** "This is Justeen Holly and Mason Vern. They are in charge. Listen, Aspen, we wont hurt you. We are the good guys. Promise." I heard Ange whisper, her voice like a summer breeze.**

** As Ange and Gabe moved aside, prompted by Francine's hands, I saw what appeared to be a little girl, no older than ten. **

** "So your name's Aspen, huh?" the little girl nodded her head at my question. **

** "Are you like us?" Mason asked. Aspen nodded again, and spread out her white wings.**

** "Welcome to the family," I said.**


End file.
